Where-in I make sweeping generalizations, which may not be true for everyone, but I believe is true for the majority.
People who play Ap's are playing for pk. They are far more likely to die after losing a sweet set than a paladin, who are most often playing for rp (not known for sealing kills, so if you are interested in a pk powerhouse, either you know you can get defiance, or have friends who can get it for you, or you play something else).
An ap, without edges, with a 2-3 charge axe *CAN* compete in pk at hero, if they are smart. Yet, Ap's get 10-40 charges, and their chances of deleting when they lost their gear go up by like a factor of 100.
Add in the fact that Ap's *REQUIRE* a/b/s which a large portion of the cf populous just *CAN'T* play enough to be bothered with (when I can play an hour a day if I am lucky, do I want to spend it going after wands? fuck no) That's another reason why few people play ap's.
I think the main reason ap edges are so insane compared to other classes is.....
Pallies have other roles, the healer, the tank....
same with warriors, who have the "I can take damage" tank, or the "I can dodge tank" roles....
and nearly every other class has multiple roles.
Ap's........they pk. They do damage. Period. So of course, all of their edges are going to be aligned directly to making pk, doing damage, better.
(although, I *DO* think that ap edges are way out of balance with other classes. Especially for a class that has unlimited power potential, I thought edges weren't supposed to just be just yet another "make the strong stronger" thing)